Billie Eilish believes ‘What Was I Made For’ is one of her “best vocal performances I’ve ever given”
Billie Eilish has said her song ‘What Was I Made For’ is one of her “best vocal performances I’ve ever given”.
In an interview with Vanity Fair, Eilish has opened up about the making of her song, which she wrote for the Barbie soundtrack.
Eilish said she “had this exact vision for what I wanted it to sound like, and I got it there.” She described aiming for whispery, “heartbroken” vocals, saying that singing in a belted or “choral” style didn’t fit the song.
“I feel really proud,” she continued. “If I can be honest, I feel like it’s one of my best vocal performances I’ve ever given.”
Brother and producer Finneas, however, said the singer was “harsh” on herself about the performance. “She’d go home for the night, come back the next day and say – I need to rerecord this line, this line and this line,” he recalled.
Eilish added: “When I was starting out, I had one way of singing, and that’s how I sang. Now I have all these choices, and I can play with my instrument. It’s really amazing and it’s really fun, but it’s definitely hard.”
‘What Was I Made For’ was recently nominated for a Golden Globe for ‘Best Original Song – Motion Picture’. In our three-star review of the Barbie soundtrack, Eilish was highlighted as one of the best performances on the record: “Her sincerity never comes off as contrived given how much of her personal life has bled into the lyrics: “Think I forgot how to be happy / something I’m not, but something I can be”.
“Eilish’s vocals are somehow even more whispery than usual, as though this is Barbie’s deepest, darkest secret – thanks to the delicate arrangement, it works.”
In other recent news, Eilish has responded to publication Variety for “outing” her. The singer, who revealed to the magazine that she was “attracted” to women last month, confirmed speculation about her sexuality in a red carpet interview with them: “Wasn’t it obvious? I didn’t realize people didn’t know.”
However, in an Instagram post made the following day, Eilish asked people to “leave me alone”: “thanks variety for my award and for also outing me on a red carpet at 11 am instead of talking about anything else that matters i like boys and girls leave me alone about it please literally who cares stream “what was i made for”.
Eilish is also set to feature on Saturday Night Live show as the final musical guest after Olivia Rodrigo’s cake-smearing appearance.
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Alex Rigotti
NME
